Yates Center girls claim victory

HOWARD — Aggression on offense and better execution of their zone defense paid off in victory for Yates Center High’s girls.
The Wildcats were able to use both to stay just in front of host West Elk High Tuesday, escaping town with a 43-41 win.
The victory lifts Yates Center to 3-8 on the season.
“It was a sloppy first half, but the girls got after it in the second,” Wildcat head coach Abbie Collins said.
The keys were Yates Center’s zone defense, with senior post player Cherokee Shaffer at the point.
“She disrupted some passes and got some steals,” Collins said.
Pushing the ball inside paid off on offense as well, Collins said, again with Shaffer as the beneficiary.
Shaffer’s 19 points came with five steals on defense.
The game was tightly fought throughout, with Yates Center nursing a 12-11 lead before the Patriots responded with a 14-9 run to lead 25-21 at the break. Yates Center closed to within 30-28 after three periods and ended the game with a 15-11 run to claim the win.
“It was just a back-and-forth game,” Collins said.
Autumn Douglas chipped in with six points and 14 rebounds, while Emily Baker scored eight for Yates Center.
Sydney Hines scored 17 to pace West Elk.
Yates Center travels to Burlington Friday.
Yates Center (12-9-7-15—43) (FG/3-pt): Hartwig 1-1-5-3, Spencer 0-0-2-0, Galemore 0-1-0-1, Baker 1/2-0-3-8, Douglas 2-2-3-6, Adams 0-2-1-2, Shaffer 8-3-4-19, Estes 2-0-4-4. TOTALS: 14/2-9-22-43.
West Elk (11-14-5-11—41) (FG/3-pt): Miller 2-3-4-7, Silvey 2-0-2-4, McCarty 3-0-5-6, Hines 4/1-6-3-17, Saragosa 1-2-2-4, Julian 0-1-1-1. TOTALS: 12/1-14-20-41.